Let’s raise a toast to autumn.
It’s the only time of year when hard cider seems more appropriate for your Champagne flute than, well, Champagne.
That is if you do it correctly.
I once spent a long weekend traveling part of Michigan’s Cider Trail with my partner, a Great Lakes State native who really is the cider aficionado in the family. We hit Virtue Cider in Fennville (founded by Chicagoan Greg Hall), Vander Mill Ciders in Spring Lake, about 45 minutes up the road, and finally, Tandem Ciders in Suttons Bay, not too far from Traverse City.
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But, frankly, they all left me a little flat. Despite all the cider flights, cider education and cider pints, the drink never left me craving more. One sort of blended into the other. Cider certainly didn’t seem like the kind of drink I’d ever serve guests.
Then an apple fell on my head. What about an apple cider cocktail?
So I turned to Ambrosia Borowski, the front-of-the-house manager and cocktail curator at The Northman, a cider-focused pub in the North Center neighborhood, to help sort me out.
Northman’s menu has lots of cider-based cocktails, like the Northern Spy, Transcendent Crab and the Berne Rose — and Borowski even teaches a monthly Cider School at the bar. (The next is focused on holiday cocktails. $30, Nov. 7, The Northman, 4337 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-935-2255, www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2642380)
While she thinks cider shouldn’t be too precious — it’s the drink of hardworking Midwestern farmers, after all — it still can be dolled up for a party. I think of her Berne Rose as a cocktail in a flannel tuxedo.
It was inspired by a trip Borowski took to Wisconsin, so her version uses apple brandy from Madison’s Yahara Bay Distillers, along with fresh lemon juice, cherry bitters and a brandied cherry. It’s topped with Bonny Doon Querry, which is an apple, pear and quince cider, for a fizzy finish. (It may be hard to find at your local liquor store, but you can order it online from Binny’s.)
“This would be a wonderful pre-dinner cocktail for those who want a slightly boozy sparkling wine,” she says. “It’s slightly acidic, well-balanced, with a hint of sweetness.”
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It will feel right at home in a Champagne flute.
Chris Lamorte is a freelance writer.
Berne Rose
Brandied cherry
1 1/2 ounces apple brandy
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1 dash cherry bitters
Bonny Doon Querry
1 Place a brandied cherry in the bottom of a Champagne flute.
2 Shake apple brandy, lemon juice and cherry bitters over ice in a cocktail shaker until chilled (about 30 seconds).
3 Strain into the flute, over cherry.
4 Top with Bonny Doon Querry.
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